Ford seeks $238 million in tax incentives for Detroit campus

It includes more than $103,600,000 from the city itself

Ford will pursue $238.6 million in tax incentives, including nearly $103.6 million from the city of Detroit, for its plans to redevelop the long-abandoned Michigan Central Station and establish an autonomous- and
electric-vehicle tech campus in the city.

The
Detroit Free Pressreports that the figures were divulged during a presentation Monday night by the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. Ford has said it
plans to spend about $740 million to rehabilitate the blighted former train depot and other properties in the city's rapidly revitalizing Corktown neighborhood, money it would take from a fund already set aside to overhaul its Dearborn campus. The amount of federal, state and local in incentives it's seeking is consistent with what the automaker previously projected.

The incentives are sure to raise objections in Detroit, which emerged from the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy in 2014. The city's long-struggling public schools remain, by the mayor's own reckoning, one of the biggest impediments to recovery, with continued declining enrollment, a high dropout rate and now a
drinking-water crisis, and more than a third of residents live below the poverty line. What's more, Ford's second-quarter earnings report
listed $16.8 billion in cash on hand, leading many to ask why incentives are needed.

An analysis by the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. anticipates a net fiscal benefit of $370.1 million to the city over 35 years. That's based on Ford's projections of bringing 2,500 employees and another 2,500 employees from suppliers, startups and other partners, 2,000 construction jobs and the automaker's promised $740 million investment.